by Maharlika Sage

                                   One Big Tree Hug !

Last weekend’s impromptu getaway made for a happy kick start into summer. The summer weather has been playing tricks on us and rather than participate in the collective group of complaints about the weather going around on facebook, I opted for a positive approach and decided “weather” or not, it’s still summer and that to me means a series of camping trips and weekend getaways, exploring the beauty of this earth.  


We headed north, through the winding roads, where the forest and trees grow bigger and age to perfection in the high elevation.  It has been a some 15 years since my last trip through the Sequoia National Park and riving through a window of cedar, lodge pole pines, and sequoias, the smell of its aroma gave me a feeling of calm and made me happy to be away from the hustle of beach going tourists that surround my community each summer. Our friends headed up earlier to secure a spot and we were told the adventure would start at Buck Rock camp ground. This is one of the few campgrounds that doesnt require a fee. We rolled into camp in complete darkness with a spray of twinkling stars and smoldering campfires recently put to rest. In the morning I gazed at the beauty of our camp and the surrounding trees, it was indeed a quieter summer as the weather must have deflected the many yearly camp goers. For me— this was a big score as I rarely like camping when it’s so crowded and this year is shaping up to be the perfect year to camp. 


As we settled into the weekend of exploration our first journey was to pay homage to General Sherman. The General is believed to be two thousand seven hundred years old and standing a brilliant 275 feet tall. Over the years, the Sequoia National parks have been updated and set up in a  theme park fashion. The landscapes are beautifully manicured and a sea of recycling bins are highly promoted, making it easy for newbie campers to get a taste of nature without leaving a trace.   After our visit with General Sherman came my favorite part of the weekend. We hiked to Tokopah Falls located outside of Lodgepole. This is one of the most beautiful Waterfalls I’ve seen this year. It sits along the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River nestled between impressive granite cliffs, Tokopah Falls is 1,200 ft high, and is said to be the most awe inspiring in early summer, when the run-off from the melting snowpack in the Pear Lake region upstream is at its peak. 


At night we enjoyed the usual campfire bliss and the sounds of crackling embers and laughter echoed through our forest. There is so much to explore in the Sequioa’s that I’ll definitely be going again sooner than later— we just missed the tour to Crystal Caves, and since we stayed on other side of Kings Canyon in Buck Rock, we decided to end our trip with a few pretty awesome site seeing spots near that area.  A notable site to see is the Buck Rock Lookout, which sits perched high atop a granite dome and offers a breathtaking view of the Great Western Divide and other spectacular high mountain peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Access to the top is via a brisk 172 stair flights, suspended from the side of the rock.  The current lookout building was constructed in 1923 and is historically significant as a representation of the earliest 4-A style live-in cabs of which there are only three in existence in the world today.